IT'S NOT MY PROBLEM
by kathyde
Summary: Gillian finds she's financially responsible for Alec's drug habit.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

It was early one morning when Ben Reynolds walked down the hallway of The Lightman Group. He called out when he saw the familiar figure of the person he came to see. Thankfully she walking next to the one person he hoped would help him through this. "Foster?"

Gillian immediately recognized the voice and with a smile, turned around to greet him. "Hi Ben, what brings you here so early?"

Ben grimaced at the cheerfulness in her voice. He knew his news was going to devastate her and he hated to be the one to tell her the bad news. "Can we speak somewhere private?" At Gillian's look of surprise, he elaborated. "It's about a personal matter."

Cal turned around at the unusual question and looked over at Gillian. "Oh yeah?"

"Jealous?" Gillian grinned saucily.

"No, you'd never leave me…" Cal laughed smugly.

"Pretty confident in that are you?" Gillian asked as she rolled her eyes at him before she motioned towards Ben. "Sure why don't you come into my office?"

Gillian led the way and Cal hovered uncertainly outside her door. In deference to Ben's request, Gillian shook her head as she gently reminded him. "The line, Cal."

Abruptly put in his place, Cal looked suitably contrite and nodded as he started to walk away.

Ben reached for Gillian's arm and squeezed it lightly. "If you don't mind, I'd like Lightman's input on this…"

Gillian frowned as she wondered what the news could possibly be then shrugged indifferently. "That's fine, I'll end up telling him about it anyway, Cal..." she called out to him then motioned with her head after he turned around. "Ben would like you to be here…so do you mind?"

Ben walked into her office as Cal stood uncertainly in the hallway. He realized Reynolds had requested his presence but he still wanted Foster's approval. He looked at her for confirmation.

She sighed and waved her arm, inviting him in. "Please," she asked. "I'm guessing it must be important…"

Cal hesitated a second before he followed behind Ben.

"Can you lock it?" Ben asked him as he came into the room.

Cal wondered how serious the matter must be but he did as Ben asked then turned to find that Ben had already walked over to the couches and was pointing at the one opposite his indicating wordlessly that he'd like them to sit.

Gillian sat down and looked at him expectantly. She could see he was struggling to tell her the news. "Ben, whatever it is just say it."

Ben sighed in resignation. "My commander knows how much I've worked with you guys in the past and he asked me to come here and tell you the news in person." Gillian nodded and he continued. "There's a club on 79th street…High end place…clientele is business professionals, politicians…"

Gillian frowned disapprovingly as she nodded. "Yeah, I know the one…um…Alec used to go there a lot."

"Still does," Cal muttered.

Gillian face showed surprise first then anger that he knew of Alec's whereabouts. She clamped down on her emotions and finally shook her head. "No, I don't think so; last time we talked, he said he stopped going there when he entered into rehab again."

"So you knew about his drug addiction?" Ben wondered aloud.

"Of course I did," Gillian admitted quietly. "It's one of the reasons we divorced."

"This club is pretty exclusive about catering to its clientele…only the good stuff is sold there." He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Anyway, its been under the microscope for months now and we finally got enough evidence to orchestrate a drug bust last night."

"Say no more…" Gillian sighed derisively as she rolled her eyes and shook her head in disgust. "You're here to try to politely break the news that Alec was arrested. He had no one else to call so he asked you to come see me. Tell Alec I'm not bailing him out, he can call his drug addict sponsor or these days I guess she'd still be considered his girlfriend?"

Ben swallowed hard and shook his head as he shot Cal a look that begged for support. "Um…no, that's not why I'm here."

At the look on Ben's face, Cal had a feeling of dread wash over him and he frowned as he looked to Gillian to watch her reaction. "Go on," he prompted as he unconsciously moved closer to her side.

"We found Alec out back in the alley, he was behind a dumpster."

Gillian's face paled as she leapt to her feet. "Do you know which hospital they took him to?"

"Foster…" Ben stood as well as he shook his head. "Gillian…he wasn't taken to a hospital…when they found him he was…um…he's gone." Gillian's face registered her disbelief and Ben frowned. "I'm so sorry..."

Cal came to stand behind her and Gillian automatically turned and buried her face in his neck. Cal's arms came around her and he held her tightly while she cried.

She eventually took a deep shuddering breath and pulled back as she looked at him. She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. "Somehow I knew he'd end up like this! I had dreams about him being found dead with a needle sticking up out of his arm…Why?! Why couldn't he just get help?"

Cal reached up to wipe a newly formed tear from her cheek then leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I have no idea, Luv, maybe he just wasn't strong enough…"

Ben cleared his throat and Cal grimaced and looked back knowingly. "There's more, isn't there?"

"We need someone to identify the body or at least get us his dental records."

"I'll do it." Gillian sighed.

Cal quickly read the look on Ben's face. "No, I'll go identify him."

"That's probably a better idea." Be nodded with relief.

Gillian sniffled as she straightened her shoulders and looked at them curiously. She realized there was something Ben wasn't saying. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why is it a better idea that Cal identifies him?"

Ben knew she had caught on and raised his hands in defeat as he continued his story. "Alec didn't die from a drug overdose. He was…beaten to death."

"What?! Why?!"

Ben looked at Cal then at Gillian. "He ran up quite a debt supporting his habit. He owed someone a hell of a lot of money and when he couldn't pay they used him to send a message out to the rest of the addicts."

"They killed him because he couldn't pay some money he owed?! That's just great." Gillian muttered.

Clearly alarmed at the chain of events, Cal shot Ben a questioning look and Ben nodded his confirmation to Cal's unspoken question.

"Foster…there's a chance they may come to you to pay off your husband's debt…" Ben warned.

Gillian waved her arms dismissively. "First things first, he's my **_ex_** husband and his financial concerns are no longer my problem…"

Cal grimaced when he saw Ben steeling himself to break the news. "The cartel that Alec owes money to doesn't really worry about silly technicalities like divorce or bankruptcy. They just want the money that's owed to him."

Gillian shrugged her shoulders and shook her head indifferently. "Well then someone needs to tell the cartel I guess they're out of luck because I don't think Alec had any money after I left him."

Ben shook his head in disbelief as he sighed and ran a hand over his face. "You can't be this naïve?"

Cal held up his hand to stop Ben. "Sure you can, when your kind doesn't run in those circles!" He looked at Gillian and took her hands in his. "What Ben's trying hard not to say, Darling, is that the FBI fear that the cartel is going to come _after you_ to pay off Alec's debt. You may be in danger right now."

"That's crazy!"

"That's business as usual to these guys." Ben commented dryly.

Gillian's face showed pure disgust. "I divorced him so he couldn't financially do this to me! I divorced him to protect myself from his lifestyle and now you're telling me they may come after me anyway?!"

Ben frowned. "Alec didn't pay his bill and they killed him to send a message to all the other people that owe them money, now they'll try to collect that debt one way or the other. Going after loved ones for payment will send another message out."

"I can't believe this is happening!" Gillian gasped as she started to pace. "This is NOT my problem!"

"How much?" Cal asked flatly.

"How much what?" Gillian wondered.

Cal ignored her and continued to stare at Ben.

"I don't know. My job was to come here and warn Gillian about the possible threat to her life and to prepare her for anything that could come up."

Gillian was steadily growing angrier. "So I'm just supposed to live my life looking over my shoulder waiting for these lunatics to come after me for money that I don't owe?"

Ben looked at Cal who sighed and walked over to her. "We'll get through this Foster…"

Gillian shook her head then grabbed her purse. "No, this is my mess…I'll clean it up." she looked at Ben. "I'll go identify the body. If it's him, I'll call his sister and dump it in their lap. Quite honestly, his whole family is as sick of the situation as I am; I'm guessing the state will have to pay for his burial."

Cal knew her too well and knew this false bravado of hers wouldn't last and he reached for her elbow. "I'll drive Foster here and we'll follow you to the morgue."

Thirty minutes later, Gillian took a deep breath and nodded as the clerk gently pulled back the sheet covering a body.

"Oh, God!" Gillian gasped at the barely recognizable face of her ex husband.

As she covered her face with her hands, Cal grimaced then put his arm around her and drew her close.

"That's him, then?" Ben asked gently as the clerk looked for confirmation.

Cal nodded. "Yeah, at's him."

"You're sure?" the clerk asked.

"No doubts, that's Alec Foster." Cal confirmed as Gillian looked over and nodded wordlessly as well.

The clerk stepped away and Ben pointed towards the door. Cal tightened his embrace and led Gillian out of the room. He spotted a private family area set off to the side and quickly led her into it.

Ben glanced at Cal and silently motioned that he was going to leave them alone and Cal nodded with understanding.

Gillian sank onto the couch and when the door closed she started sobbing uncontrollably. Cal sat next to her and dragged her to his chest and held her. He ached for the pain she was going through but his mind was racing with the possibilities of the dangerous situation she was in. He wondered how much it was going to cost to pay off Alec's debt and guarantee her safety. He knew Gillian had her own financial worries. Because of his decision to mortgage the company to pay off Zoey, they had both foregone paychecks several times and he knew she didn't have any expendable cash to take on more debt. He was pulled from his thoughts when Gillian finally stopped crying and pulled away from him.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"Thanks for being here with me."

"At's what friends are for, Luv."

Gillian smiled weakly. "I…should have taken you up on your offer to identify him yourself."

Cal rubbed her back lightly as he grimaced with understanding. "Yeah, you can't unsee that."

"No, you can't," she muttered as she stood.

"What's next, Luv?"

"Can you take me home? I need to contact Alec's family and try to figure out what they want to do."

"Sure."

The car ride to her house was silent and Cal left her to her thoughts.

"Mind if I use your bathroom?" Cal asked innocently.

"Of course not, come on in."

Cal stood in her bathroom and rolled his eyes as he pretended to wash his hands. He had come up with the easy excuse so he could check out her apartment and make sure that there were no hidden surprises waiting for her.

When he came out she was heating up water for tea and smiled at him knowingly. "No one hiding in my closet?"

Cal grinned sheepishly. "How'd you know?"

"Next time flush," she said as she turned to grab a cup. "Are you staying?"

"No, if you'll be all right, I'm going to get back to the office."

Gillian was opening a bottle of pain reliever. "I'm fine, Cal. Just have a headache from crying. I'm going sit and make those calls then lie down for awhile."

Cal nodded. "Okay, then, I'll see you later, Foster, lock up, yeah?"

Gillian followed him towards the door and before he could open it she reached for his arm and turned him around. "Cal…" She walked into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Thank you."

"It's all right, Luv, I'm glad I could help."

"You were more than a help."

Cal hugged her tightly then leaned back and smiled before he impulsively kissed her forehead. He grimaced at his impulsiveness then looked at her apologetically as he pulled away. He blinked in surprise when she leaned in and kissed his lips.

She smiled as she nonchalantly wiped at his lips to take off the imaginary lipstick. "I'll call you later."

Cal cleared his throat nervously. "Yeah."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

As Cal drove towards work, he made several decisions. He walked purposefully into the office and started shouting out orders.

"Loker! Torres! My office now!"

In the lab, Torres and Loker exchanged worried glances but followed him immediately.

"Door!" Cal ordered as he shrugged off his jacket and threw it towards a chair.

Loker did as he asked then stood silently next to Torres and waited for him to start.

"This is a very personal matter and it's really none of your business and the only reason I'm bothering to tell you is because I need your help."

"Our help?" Loker asked with surprise.

"Yeah!" Cal muttered. The two colleagues nodded as he continued. "What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room!"

"Got it!" Torres replied.

"I need to get my hands on money…lots of it…right now!"

"Okay…" Loker shrugged indifferently. "I don't have any money…you quit paying me…"

"Not from you!" Cal rolled his eyes then sighed when he realized he hadn't explained himself clearly. "I need you two to dig through Foster's potential client files and get me anything that's easy! Cheating spouse cases, tax fraud, anything that can bring me quick cash, get the money up front in cash if possible or in checks made out to me not to The Lightman Group."

"How are we supposed to get access to those files without Foster knowing?" Torres asked.

"Foster will be taking some time off."

"You're kidding me, neither one of you ever takes days off!" Torres reminded him.

"Her ex husband was found dead last night," Cal spat angrily.

"What happened?" Loker gasped.

"He was murdered," Cal said as he moved files on his desk.

Torres was immediately concerned for her friend. "Is Foster all right?"

"Like I said, she'll be taking a few days off of work." Cal refused to elaborate and waved his hand indifferently. "Look, after you set up easy cases, I want you to find out if there are any big payout cases, ones that may require a little more time but that I can collect on right away."

"How are you going to fit this into the current work load?" Torres wondered.

"I'll work nights and weekends," Cal shrugged indifferently.

Torres suddenly cocked her head to the side as she stared at him. "You're scared!" she blurted out. "Why?"

Cal blinked in surprise that she had seen that emotion then quickly masked his face. "Remember what I told you about reading each other?"

"No!" Torres ignored him and put her hand on her hips. "You did something that you're trying to fix and you don't want Foster to know about it!"

Cal shot her a look and Loker shook his head knowingly. "No…if he did something wrong he wouldn't be telling us about it, he's covering for someone else…who?"

Cal frowned and sat down heavily in his chair. "It doesn't matter."

Torres realized Loker had guessed correctly and thought quickly. "It's someone that if Foster found out about she'd be hurt by the news. Which means it has to be…Alec! Alec Foster did something wrong and you want to fix it…why?!"

Loker saw Cal's reaction and knew she'd guessed correctly. He knew Cal hated Alec Foster and wouldn't care if Gillian thought poorly about her ex so it had to be something else, something that would cause him to be afraid, he looked over at Torres. "To protect her! Whatever Alec did, put Foster in danger."

"Bloody hell!" Cal said with exasperation knowing the two wouldn't stop until he admitted what was going on. The two looked at him and he rolled his eyes in dismay that they would be relentless until they found out the whole story. "Alec Foster was killed last night for failure to pay off his drug debt."

Torres nodded. "And you believe that they'll come after Foster for payment for Alec's debt?"

Cal ignored her question. "Are you two going to help me or not?"

Knowing she guessed correctly, Torres responded immediately. "We're in!"

Loker nodded as well. "I'll have Heidi and anyone with any free time work on collecting any outstanding debt owed to the group."

"At's good but that money has to be paid to the company's books." Cal stood and looked at them. "Ria, Eli…this doesn't leave this room, right?" When they both nodded, he grimaced. "Set up any cases you can find, give me a schedule and I promise you both I will keep it. I'm going out to try collect on a few favors; I'll have my phone on."

Cal walked out and Torres looked at Loker. "You know until he gets that money and Foster's safe he's going to be involved in some illegal…"

"Yeah, then Foster will kill him," Loker raised his hand to stop her. "So let's get going and rustle up some real clients to keep him busy."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

A few days later, Gillian was surprised to learn she was still listed as the beneficiary of Alec's life insurance policy. Then she discovered that he had borrowed against it. The small amount that was left after the payout barely paid for his simple burial. His family refused to be a part of any of it and Gillian attended the gravesite service alone. She barely heard the words of the minister as she wondered where all the people where that Alec had once called friends. She was relieved to see his sponsor hadn't even bothered to show up and she realized Alec had died alone, a broken and lonely man.

At the sound of a car door closing, the minister hesitated to allow whoever showed up late to make it up to the gravesite. Gillian startled with surprise to see Cal had gotten out of a taxi and was walking towards her. He nodded to the minister to begin. As the minister read aloud, Gillian sniffled and Cal took her hand in his and moved closer to her side. When the minister began to speak about Alec, Cal grimaced. It was obvious the man had never met Alec and that his words could have been said about anybody. When it was over, Gillian smiled weakly at the minister. He politely offered her his condolences then left.

Gillian turned to face Cal. For the past few days she hadn't actually seen him, only spoken to him over the phone and at his welcoming embrace, she melted into his arms.

"You should have called me, Luv," he reprimanded lightly as he took in her pale appearance.

"I know, I didn't want to bother you."

Cal looked around to see no one but the workers discreetly waiting to finish burying Alec. "You shouldn't have had to face this alone. His family wouldn't come?"

Gillian snorted derisively. "No, they said he'd been dead to them a long time ago."

Cal sighed as he put his arm around her and led her towards her car. "Let me take you home."

"Okay." Gillian nodded and leaned against him as they walked to her car. Cal opened the passenger door for her then waited until she was seated before he walked to the driver's side and got in.

At her apartment, he glanced around cautiously as he led her inside. Once again, he checked to make sure it was safe before he joined her in the kitchen.

"Hungry?" he asked. "Can I make you some breakfast?"

"I'll just have toast…"

"Toast?" Cal asked as he took out eggs and bacon as well as cheese, a green pepper, mushrooms and a tomato. "At's not a breakfast…how about an omelet instead?"

"Too much work."

"Go change your clothes; I'll make it for you."

Gillian smiled weakly at him and nodded. "Whatever you make will be fine."

Cal watched her and furrowed his brow when she left. She looked exhausted and he figured she was having a hard time coming to terms with Alec's death.

Ten minutes later, Gillian came down and peeked into the kitchen. "Can I help?"

"Nope," Cal answered distractedly. "Almost done."

"Do you mind sitting in the living room to eat? I'd like to catch up on the news," she explained.

"Sure, Darling, whatever you want."

Gillian was seated when Cal came in holding a plate and a large mug of coffee. He came back a few seconds later with the same for himself.

"Oooh, Cal this is excellent!"

Cal smiled as she closed her eyes and moaned happily at the taste of his food. "It's just an omelet, Foster."

Gillian sighed contentedly. "I've been spending so much time on the phone with Alec's family then making arrangements for today that I've barely taken the time to eat!"

Cal nodded but wisely stayed silent on the subject of Alec as he turned to watch the weather forecast. Gillian and he ate in companionable silence and Cal waited until she was finished then took their plates into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher.

He came in to find her with her head on the back of the couch and her eyes closed. He sat down next to her and she cracked her eyes opened to look at him.

Cal tapped his chest lightly in an invitation. "Come here, Luv…"

Gillian knew he was telling her to lay her head on his chest and she immediately leaned over and sank against him. It was several minutes before either of them spoke.

"Alec's landlord called me and said he's paid through next week. I'll need to go this weekend and empty out the apartment."

"Let the landlord do that." Cal stated flatly as he rubbed his hand lightly up and down her back.

Gillian sighed. "No, I left some things there; I'd like to get them back…"

Cal frowned at the dangerousness of her being in Alec's apartment alone. "Well, you have a few days to get it done, just relax for a few seconds..."

Gillian felt so safe and secure in his arms she felt herself falling asleep. "Thanks, Cal," she slurred as she fell asleep.

Cal waited until he felt her breathing level out before he slipped out from under her then covered her up with a blanket. He locked up as he left the house.

Cal drove immediately to Alec's then bribed the landlord to let him inside. They both gasped when they saw that Alec's apartment had been trashed. Chairs were overturned and the contents of any drawers and closets had been dumped on the floor in the rooms they were in.

The landlord grew angry. "Tell that ex-wife of his she has until the weekend to clean this place up then I'm throwing everything in a dumpster."

Cal nodded then picked up the phone and called the office. "Heidi, tell Loker that he and Torres are to bring empty boxes and garbage bags to this address and have anyone who's available come with them."

Cal had rattled off Alec's address then hung up. As he waited, he carefully started to sort through items.

Twenty minutes later, Loker walked up and looked around the room. "Damn, who's place?"

"Alec Foster's," Cal grimaced.

Torres shook her head worriedly. "Someone means business."

"Yeah, afraid so."

Loker frowned knowingly. "Let me guess, Foster needs to clean up this place and you don't want her here alone, right?"

"At's right…" Cal acknowledged.

A few of the interns walked in and Torres took charge immediately. She waved an arm around the room. "Box up everything you see but label the boxes carefully. Hamilton…grab a couple of garbage bags and put all the clothes inside of them then stack them against the back wall. Dirty clothes go in a separate bag and throw out all underwear and socks."

Loker blinked at her in surprise and she shot him a confused look. "What?"

"What have you got against underwear and socks?"

"No one wants donated underwear…why don't you and Lightman go down to U-Haul and rent a truck?"

Cal blinked in surprise at her ordering him around. "Oh yeah?"

Torres rolled her eyes. "Please! I'll have us out of here in less than four hours if you get me that truck in the next forty five minutes…"

Cal was more than willing to let her take charge and he made a face and nodded at Loker. "Let's go."

"Wait!" The two men turned as Torres looked around the room again and grabbed a box to show them. "I need seventeen more boxes…this size!"

Loker made a face. "Seventeen? Not ten or twenty…seventeen?"

Torres rolled her eyes at him. "Trust me, I've done this too many times to count, just get them."

Loker turned and caught up to Cal and as ordered they brought the truck back within an hour. The rest of the Lightman Group had arrived as Torres organized the removal of everything from Alec's apartment.

"All right people, bedroom furniture first…"

Some of the workers quickly started carrying items while the others continued to pack boxes.

Torres turned to Cal. "Where's all this stuff going to go?"

Cal blew out a long breath as he thought. "Boxes can go in my garage; I'll have to get public storage for the furniture."

Torres shook her head. "No, we don't need that added expense right now. Why don't we use the dock at the office? You'll have to get Foster to make a decision on this stuff before the end of next week but…"

Cal nodded. "Aye, look you're doing great here…" He looked at his watch then reached into his pocket and took out his house keys. "I want to check on Foster, can you handle this?"

"Sure…go make sure she's all right."

Cal handed her his credit card as he started to walk out the door. "Buy everyone lunch, easy on the alcohol."

Cal left and true to her word, Torres had Alec's apartment emptied in less than four hours.

She turned to Loker and smiled. "Can you handle the stuff being dumped into Lightman's garage and then at the dock at work. Heidi, Sarah, Beth and I will scrub down this apartment. I'll send Hamilton to rent me a steam cleaner from that store around the corner."

"You're going to steam clean the carpeting?"

"I want Foster to get the security deposit back! Fifty bucks rental and she'll get a couple hundred back…hell yeah, I'm steam cleaning the carpet. Look, we'll be done in an hour, we'll meet you back at the office and I'll get lunch then."

"You know, take charge Torres is kind of sexy…" Loker grinned.

Torres rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Loker."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Cal quietly slipped into Gillian's apartment then frowned when he heard noise in the kitchen.

"Foster?"

"Yeah."

Cal walked in to find her making tea. She looked like she'd just woken up as he came over and kissed her cheek. "Got some rest, eh?"

"Yeah, I just woke up…" She turned and grabbed him a cup.

He shook his head. "I have to get back to the office; I just wanted to check on you."

"I'm fine, Cal."

"Okay, can I get you anything? Something to eat, maybe?"

She grinned and touched his arm. "After that wonderful breakfast I just had? No, I'm fine for now."

"Then I should probably get back…"

Gillian sighed. "Yeah, I think I'll head over to Alec's and see what I'm up against." Cal frowned and looked away guiltily. She knew immediately he'd done something and was worried about her reaction. "What did you do?"

Cal grimaced and Gillian put her hands on her hips. "Cal!"

"I already went there," he muttered.

"And?" Gillian clamped down on her anger, knowing there was more to the story.

"The landlord let me in…" Cal sighed and reached for her hand. "Someone trashed the place, broken chairs, drawers were emptied onto the floor."

"Oh, God!"

"The landlord was pissed…told me to tell you the deadline was moved up to this weekend."

"I can't get that done in three days!" she gasped. Cal looked at her worriedly again and she frowned. "What?"

"It's already done. I had Torres and Loker bring everyone from work to help. Everything's being moved as we speak. Personal items will be in my garage and all the furniture will be in the dock at work. You can come over anytime and take all the time you want sorting through his stuff…" Cal couldn't tell if she was angry or relieved. He assumed she was angry and kept rambling. "Look, I know you're pissed and I'm sorry I crossed that line but I didn't want you spending all that time alone in his apartment. Whoever did this, Gillian is looking for…"

Gillian stepped closer and kissed his cheek. "Cal, you've been great through this whole thing, thank you."

"Not mad, then?" he asked sheepishly.

"Not mad…" Gillian grinned.

Cal hugged her warmly. "You mean I actually did something right?"

"That's pushing it but…" Gillian pulled back and looked at him curiously. "You know, when you try, I mean really try…you're actually a really great guy."

"Oh, yeah?" Cal asked as he pulled her closer.

Gillian rolled her eyes and patted his arms as she stepped back. "Yeah, look I'm going to head to Alec's and see what I can do to help out."

"I'll see you later then?"

"Sure, hey, um…can I stop by your house later? I'll bring us dinner, then maybe I'll start going through some of those boxes?"

"Sure, Luv, but I'll make us dinner instead, okay?"

"Okay."

Cal waited until Gillian had pulled away in her car before he left in his.

Gillian drove to Alec's to find Torres and Heidi lugging a steam cleaner to the trunk of her car.

"Hey, Foster," Torres smiled nervously as she looked down guiltily.

"Ria…relax," Gillian smile warmly. Torres knew instantly that they were not going to get chewed out. "Cal already told me, I came to see if there's anything I can do?"

Torres shrugged indifferently. "Get the security deposit back from the landlord…"

Gillian followed her inside and gasped at the spotless apartment. "Wow, you guys are getting a huge bonus!"

"Just trying to help out, everyone is sorry for your loss."

Gillian tried to hide her indifference to Alec's death. "Thanks, I've come to terms with it already; I just need a little more time to sort through the final papers and all his stuff then I'll be back at work."

"Great…" Torres answered automatically as she wondered how Cal was going to pull off all the extra work they had scheduled for him.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

Two weeks passed and Gillian had spent most of that time sorting through Alec's things. She had stopped into work on a Saturday morning and briefly glanced at Alec's furniture on the dock. She decided quickly that she didn't want any of it and immediately called a local charity to arrange for them to come to take it all. She was leaving when she spotted the headboard of the bed and was flooded with memories of their nights together. She ran her hand lightly over it and remembered how loving Alec was when they first got together and how happy they were their first few years of marriage. She shook her head to dispel the memories. _"Its all in the past…"_ she reminded herself. She went to her office and did payroll for the next two weeks then grimaced at their extra low balance. With a sigh, she got up and went home.

Her days were spent in Cal's garage sorting through the boxes. She was surprised at how emotional it had become as she found mementos from the years before he became an addict. Each night, she tried to anticipate when Cal would come home and she left before he did so that she wouldn't disturb him and she could be alone to mourn Alec's death privately.

She would have been shocked to learn Cal was rarely making it home at all. He spent the whole two weeks of her absence working day and night. Most nights, he slept on his couch at work for a few hours and only made it home to shower and change clothes until he eventually gave up and packed a duffle bag and just stayed at work. Money was steadily flowing in and he was building a large nest egg. Torres and Loker questioned his idea of keeping the extra money locked in his safe at work instead of at the bank but Cal explained that he wanted it close in case of an emergency.

All this extra work was slowly taking a toll on him and Cal was physically and mentally exhausted. He wondered how much longer he'd be able to keep up the pace but as long as there was a chance Gillian would find herself responsible for Alec's debt, he needed to work. He figured the worse case scenario, if she didn't have to pay, he'd be able to keep the money and pay off some of the company's debt.

It was late one morning when Torres walked in to find Cal sound asleep on his couch. As she looked around his office, she frowned to see dirty clothes piled up inside of a duffel bag in the corner as well as clean clothes hanging in the open doorway to his private study.

She walked over to the employee lunchroom and poured a huge cup of coffee then walked back into his office.

"Dr. Lightman?" she called out lightly. When he didn't stir, she kicked the bottom of the couch. "Hey, Lightman…" Cal stopped snoring and she tried again. "Cal!"

Cal shot up in his seat and blinked at her then groaned and rubbed at his face. "Torres, what the hell are you doing in my bedroom?!"

Torres handed him the cup of coffee which he readily accepted. "Yeah, about that, this is your office not your bedroom."

"Whatever," Cal shot her a dirty look. "Why are you here?"

"You're sleeping here now? You can't sleep here…well technically you can but…you know, you're killing yourself, right? You're not eating right and obviously not sleeping right!"

Cal grimaced as he took a big swig of coffee. "Foster's not here so you decided it's your turn to mother me?"

"Someone needs to! Look, you're working day and night…you've made close to thirty thousand dollars in two weeks on throw away jobs not to mention the collections Heidi's made on the outstanding debt to the Lightman Group. Exactly how much do you think Alec owes?"

"You tell me…" Cal stood and shot her another look filled with contempt but Torres was able to read fear in it as well. "Do you actually think they killed a government employee for ten thousand dollars?! What's the going rate on people…sixty thousand…eighty thousand?"

Torres balked at his logic then her face slowly fell as she realized he was probably right.

Cal held up his coffee mug and showed it to her. "Ria, thanks for this…" he said sincerely as he walked towards his desk and turned on his computer.

Torres frowned as she walked out of his office then straight to Loker's side. "We have to help him."

"Who?" Loker said as he punched away at the keyboard.

"Lightman."

Loker glanced at her. "We are, we're lining up cases left and right, he's pulled in a ton of money…"

Torres interrupted him. "It's not enough. Alec Foster was killed for what he owed these guys; it wouldn't have been over chump change."

Loker grimaced as he realized the truth behind her statement. "Yeah, you're right."

"Lightman can't so this alone."

"He does look like hell…" Loker agreed.

Torres slowly paced the room. "Look, we have a lot more business we can take on. What if you and I helped out? We can take on some of the cases ourselves then run the results past one another, if we're still uncertain about our findings, we'll ask Lightman for his opinion but I bet we can solve a lot of this stuff on our own."

Loker shrugged his approval. "It can't hurt and if it will help Foster, I'm in." He leafed through the files of potential cases and started to separate them into two stacks. "You take this pile; it's more cheating spouse cases, lover's spats, employee theft or hiring questions. I'll take this pile; it's mostly online fraud cases, tax fraud, insurance fraud…"

"Good," Torres nodded. "Let's do it then."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Gillian was exhausted as well. She spent most of her days crying in Cal's garage then went home to regroup to try to find the strength to face it all again the next day. She had repacked all of the boxes and the ones that were going to charity she put to one side of the garage and then put the few things she was going to keep in the backseat of her car.

She was in the kitchen one day making tea when she glanced at a picture on the wall of Cal and Emily. Emily was about ten years old and they were at the park. Cal had just grabbed her and Emily was laughing. Both of them had huge smiles on their faces when Zoey snapped the picture. Cal looked so happy and Gillian smiled as she ran her finger caressingly over his face.

"I miss you, Cal." she admitted aloud to an empty room. Impulsively, she grabbed for her phone and called him.

"Hello, Darling." Cal answered cheerfully.

"Hi, Cal."

He didn't need to be an expert at voice analysis to be able to hear the tiredness in her voice. "How are you, Luv?"

Gillian sighed. "I'm okay…I just realized I miss you."

"Oh yeah?!" Cal asked seductively.

"Yeah. I also wanted to let you know that a truck came and picked up the last of the boxes for charity, you can have your garage back."

"I wasn't worried about it."

"I also wanted to talk to you...are you available for dinner tonight?"

At the tone in her voice, Cal stopped worriedly in his tracks. "What's wrong, Foster?"

Gillian heard the panic in his voice and realized she had inadvertently scared him. "Nothing, Cal, honestly, I've just missed my best friend and I wanted to see you."

"You're not quitting then?"

"Quitting?"

"Yeah, you know…resigning…from The Lightman Group?"

"No, Cal, in fact…wait…" she stopped suddenly. "Why would you think I'd resign from the Group…look never mind…I wanted to tell you I'll be starting back to work on Monday."

Relieved, Cal started walking again. "Okay, if you're sure…"

Gillian frowned as she thought about the strange turn their conversation had taken. "So you never answered my question. Are you interested in dinner or do you have other plans?"

"No, I'll be there, your place or mine?" Cal grinned at the old cliché.

Knowing he'd be more comfortable here, Gillian smiled. "Why don't I go to my place and drop off a few things then I'll meet you back home and I'll cook dinner for us here."

"Sure, Luv, I'll be there in a few hours."

Cal hung up and as he was walking in the door of a building, he suddenly stopped. He realized she had referred to his place as home and smiled at the warm feeling that gave him.

Four hours later, Cal walked into the back door of his house. "Something smells wonderful!"

Gillian looked up and smiled then handed him a glass of wine. "Thanks, I made your favorite."

"Beans and toast?"

Gillian rolled her eyes as she turned to the stove. "Okay…maybe it's your second favorite…you have about a half an hour if you want to clean up first…"

Cal gulped his wine and set the glass down. "Great, I'll shower and be down in a few…"

He raced upstairs and fifteen minutes later came down again. He quickly dumped a load of laundry in the washing machine then washed his hands and turned around to face her. "What can I do to help?"

Gillian had refilled his wine glass. "Nothing, it's ready." She nodded towards the table and they went to sit down to eat.

Cal moaned in delight as he took his first bite. "This is wonderful, Darling."

"Really? It's stew, Cal."

"It's a home cooked meal, I'll tell you I'm sick of eating take out!" He said distractedly as he buttered a biscuit.

"Why have you been eating out so much lately?"

Cal looked like a deer in headlights as he realized he'd been caught. "What?"

"Quit stalling…why haven't you been eating at home?" Cal frowned as his mind worked furiously to come up with a plausible excuse. Gillian's face reflected the guilt she felt. "It's because of me, isn't it?"

"At's not it…"

She ignored him as she rushed ahead. "I'm sorry, I've taken way too long sorting through Alec's things. I really thought I was over it all and then I had to go through all those memories again and..."

"You found out you were still in love with him?"

Gillian sighed and shook her head. "No…I was over Alec a long time ago, what hit me so hard was the loss of all those possibilities." Cal's confused glance prompted her to explain further. "The possibilities of what could have been when two young kids fell madly in love and began a life together. What could have been if we would have just been able to conceive and bring a child into our marriage…"

Cal looked down and thought about his relationship with Zoey and knew a child wouldn't have solved any of the addiction problems that Alec had.

Gillian patted his hand knowingly. "And then I realized that Alec would still be battling his addiction and the only difference would have been that I would have been raising a child in a divorced situation. So no Cal, I wasn't mourning Alec, but the loss of what could have been a wonderful marriage."

Cal smiled weakly at her. "Well, maybe one day you'll find someone who will give you that marriage…"

Gillian wanted to tell him she thought she'd already found someone who could do that for her but she wasn't brave enough to voice her feelings and risk having him tell her he didn't feel the same way.

"You look tired," she stated instead.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she cocked her head to the side and really looked at him. "Actually, you look more than tired, Cal, you look exhausted. Is everything going all right?"

"Just peachy…"

Gillian felt her anger growing as she wondered what he was hiding from her. "Cal what's going on? Is the Lightman Group in trouble again?"

Cal looked up at her so she could see the truth in his eyes. "No, Luv, we're doing fine, Heidi and some of the others have been working on the overdue collections and I took on a few extra jobs. I was hoping to have a nice little balance in the account so that when you came back to sit down and pay bills you wouldn't have to worry about how to do that."

Gillian frowned as she caressed his cheek. "Well, this weekend you can relax and catch up on your sleep. I'm coming back on Monday to share that burden so no more overtime for you or any of the other people."

Cal closed his eyes at the intimacy of her touch. He clamped down on the impulse to take her hand and kiss the inside of her palm then the inside of her wrist, then the edge of her shoulder and finally her lower neck where he was certain she would shiver under his touch...

"Cal?"

He snapped back from his musings and rolled his eyes as he jumped up from his chair and grabbed the wine bottle and his glass. "Whatever you say, Luv. Fancy taking this to the living room and watching the telly?" He headed for the living room. "Leave the mess, I'll clean it up later…" he said over his shoulder.

Gillian quickly stacked their dishes in the sink then placed the leftovers on the island for easy clean-up then followed behind him. She found him slouched onto the end of the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table and his wine glass filled. She filled her glass as well then sat down at the opposite end of the couch and tucked her feet underneath her.

Gillian asked about the cases he'd been working on and Cal filled her in on the details. He finished his wine and set the glass down then slouched the rest of the way down to where he was laying with his head on a pillow.

They started to watch a movie but he was so tired he had to battle to keep his eyes open and it wasn't long before he just gave in and fell asleep.

Gillian smiled as she slipped from her seat and gently nudged him to move his legs onto the couch. In his sleep, he rolled over and stretched out. She reached and took the throw off the side of the chair and carefully covered him up. She walked into the kitchen and put away the food then cleaned up the counters. She walked back by him and stood over him as she debated about waking him up. She knew he would get a better night's sleep in bed so she finally sat down and gently shook his shoulder.

"Cal…"

"Hmmm…."

"Cal, wake up."

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah, come on, you'll sleep better in bed."

"Sleep better with you in my bed."

Gillian snorted as she chuckled. "You're dreaming…come on…go upstairs."

Cal sighed as he rolled over and got slowly to his feet. "Let me take you home."

"No, you're not driving me home, go get some sleep."

Cal shot her a look as he ran a hand tiredly over his face. "I just want to make sure you get home safely."

"I'll be fine."

"Gill…"

"Cal…" Gillian placed her hand on his chest to stop him.

Cal impulsively grabbed her hand and held it. "Stay here!" When she made to protest, he rushed on. "I'll give you a t-shirt to sleep in, Em probably has a pair of shorts you can borrow…we'll throw your clothes in the wash."

"Cal…"

"Please…I'll sleep better knowing you're safe."

Gillian saw the pleading look in his eyes and the exhaustion but she knew he would fight her and demand to see her safely home. "Okay, I'll stay."

Cal slowed his eyes slowly then looked at her gratefully. "Thank you, for not arguing. I'm heading up; you know where everything is…"

Cal walked up the steps while Gillian walked around and checked all the locks on all the doors and turned off the t.v. She headed up as well as saw that Cal had thoughtfully laid out a t-shirt for her. She headed into Emily's room and found a pair of sweat pants then on her way out, glanced at her book shelf and grabbed a book to read.

She changed in the bathroom then peeked into Cal's bedroom. He had flopped down in the middle of the bed on top of the covers. Gillian frowned and went to the linen closet and grabbed an extra blanket then slipped into his room and covered him up. She smiled as he snuggled up with the cover and she ran her hand lightly over his cheek before she left.

She sat back against the headboard of the bed in the guest room and read for awhile then fell asleep herself.

The next morning, she left early to head home and take a shower.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Gillian was at her desk at work the next morning when she signed on to the bank account and gasped at the balance. She frowned as she wondered if it was a mistake then checked the books of the company and realized that what Cal told her was true. The staff had in fact collected on most of the outstanding debt owed to them. In fact, everything seemed up to date except for a few of their recent cases.

Gillian quickly went back and reconciled the checkbook. She looked for the mail to sort though it but couldn't find it anywhere. Confused, she saw Heidi come in and went out to talk to her.

"Hi, Heidi."

"Dr. Foster, it's good to see you."

"Thank you."

"Are you coming back to work?"

"I am, I actually thought I'd get an early start today. Do you know where the mail is?"

"On Dr. Lightman's desk."

"Oh, Heidi…" Gillian gasped in dismay as she shook her head.

Heidi sighed. "What was I supposed to do? You weren't here and he asked me for it!"

Gillian closed her eyes and counted to ten. "It's okay, you didn't know. I'll try to find it."

She knew the chances of her finding any of it were slim but she walked to Cal's office anyway. She blinked in surprise to see a neat pile stacked on the corner of his desk. She rifled through it and realized that not only had he opened it he had sorted it by earliest date due. She smiled as she shook her head with exasperation. "Why doesn't he always act like this…"

She walked back to her office and started to enter the bills. Once she went through the stack, she started with the most pressing then realized that she still had plenty of money left and she went back and started to pay the other bills. When everything was paid up to date, she smiled that she still had enough to make payroll.

She glanced up and saw that Loker and Torres had entered the lunchroom and quickly got up to greet them.

"Hey, guys!"

The two friends turned around and Torres walked up and hugged her.

"Hey Foster, good to see you back!"

"Thanks!"

"Yeah," Loker agreed. "Pretty crappy way to spend time off though, your ex had a lot of junk!"

Gillian smiled at his honesty. "Yeah, he did, but I'm back now. I was just going to catch up on some things then I'll come out and see what I can help out with."

Loker shrugged. "We've got it covered."

"Oh."

At the crestfallen look that crossed Gillian's face, Torres elbowed Loker gently. "But we'd love your input."

"Thanks," Gillian smiled warmly as she walked away.

When she was out of earshot, Loker looked over at Torres. "Our overtime work just got more complicated."

Torres grimaced. "Yeah, we'll just keep plugging away and when we have some results we'll take it all Lightman."

Over the course of the next few weeks, Cal, Loker and Torres continued to work long hours. Loker and Torres were able to hide their extra curricular activities but Cal struggled as Gillian demanded more and more of his attention.

It was late one afternoon and Gillian had left early. Loker and Torres approached Cal in his office.

Cal sighed when they walked in. "Sit down, look, I'm not sure if I can take on anything right now, Foster has me working on this case for…"

Torres interrupted him. "We don't have a new case for you…"

Cal frowned then looked at them curiously. "What is it then? Loker here looks ready to burst."

Loker handed him a leather case and Cal opened it and looked inside at a large stack of money. "Bloody hell! What's this?"

Loker shrugged smugly as Torres rushed to explain. "Loker and I put in some overtime and took on some of the easier cases ourselves. We tackled all the minor ones that didn't pay great but between the two of us we were able to complete a lot of them and that…" she nodded towards the money in Cal's hands. "That is the result of that work."

Cal was stunned and remained speechless. Loker took up where she left off. "Before we gave each client the results we confirmed with the other one our findings so that there was always two sets of eyes on each case."

Torres had a stack of files in her hands. "These are the ones we differed slightly on and I think if you could find an extra hour or two to review our findings they could be settled by tomorrow and we'll be able to collect the balance on these by this weekend."

"There's over twenty thousand dollars here," Cal finally found his voice.

"Um…yeah…" Torres confirmed.

Cal shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know what to say…"

Loker chuckled derisively. "Thanks might be a good place."

Torres slapped him across the stomach and shot him a dirty look while Cal stood up and came around his desk and extended his hand. "That's not really enough though is it?"

Loker shook Cal's hand and smiled. "You're welcome."

"Ria?" Cal asked as he hugged her warmly.

Torres returned his hug then leaned back as he walked over to add the money to the safe. "Look, um…it's been over a month, maybe Foster's in the clear…"

"Maybe," Cal shrugged as he closed the safe again.

"I think we can probably slow down a little." Loker added.

Cal nodded. "You guys have done more than enough and yeah, I'll cut my case load in half over the next week or two. Let me finish up these tonight and then I'll start taking it easy."

Torres smiled at him. "That's good, because we're out of files, at this point all we can do is take call-ins."

Cal nodded. "Okay, I'll tell Heidi to direct those calls to you two and you guys can forward them to me as you see fit."


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

A few weeks later, Cal was driving past the office on his way home and noticed the light was on in Gillian's office. He glanced at the dashboard clock and muttered to himself. "What the hell is she still doing here at this hour?"

He pulled into the parking lot and parked illegally in the handicap place. Knowing he would stay and help her in any way he could, he turned the car off and locked up before he headed up. He scowled angrily when he didn't have to use his key to get inside, once again; someone had left the outer door unlocked.

Angry at whoever forgot to secure the building, he barreled into her office. "Foster! How many times do I have to ask you to lock the damn door so…"

Cal slammed to a stop and put his hands in the air when he saw three heavily armed men scattered around her office. All of them were pointing a gun in his direction.

"So the dregs of society don't get in and hurt her?" The man who made the comment was seated next to Gillian on the couch. "Don't you claim any fault in this? You're the one who left her alone and undefended in her office at night."

Cal's stomach clenched when he glanced down and looked at Gillian. She was unconscious; her head was slumped back and she had a gash on her temple that was dripping blood over the front of her blouse. He was certain her lip was bleeding from sustaining a hit to the face. He looked down and his stomach rolled when he saw her blouse was torn open and her skirt was askew.

Cal fought to keep down the bile in his throat as he made his way over to the couch. "Get the hell away from her!" he commanded.

The man got up from his place on the couch and nodded towards the other two men. "Check the doors."

"What the hell did you do to her?" Cal asked as he ran his hand lightly over her head, trying to find out why she was unconscious.

"Let's just say one of my men got a little overzealous trying to get control of her. It's not all his fault; she fought like an alley cat."

Cal shot the man a deadly look. "And then you animals had your way with her…"

"No! As I said, she fought hard; her blouse was torn when she tried to get away. Rape was not on our agenda tonight!"

Cal was relieved Gillian hadn't been violated but he refused to allow his anger to dissipate. "But beating up a woman was…"

"If she would've listened to instructions she would've been fine, she hit her head on the edge of the table after she lost her balance trying to get away, if she wasn't wearing those stupid high heels..."

At least Cal knew what happened as he tried to wake her up. "Gill…" he whispered as he gently rubbed his hands on her arms and shook them lightly. "I need you to wake up, Luv…"

Gillian's eyes fluttered open as she lashed out with her hand. Cal caught it easily and held it to his chest. "Shhh…it's me, Darling…" Gillian's eyes focused on him and she immediately stopped fighting. "It's okay…I'm here…" She reached for him and started crying as he drew her into his embrace. Cal whispered into her hair as he rocked her and ran his hand soothingly up and down her back. He held her tightly as he looked up at the man. "What the hell is this all about?"

"Alec Foster…" the man stated flatly.

"He's not her problem anymore…" Cal spat.

"They came to collect on Alec's debt." Gillian whispered.

Relieved she had spoken, Cal ignored her comment and cupped her cheek as he wiped at her tears. "Are you okay?" When she started to speak, he frowned. "Please don't say you're fine…"

As that was exactly what she was about to say, she decided to be truthful and smiled weakly. "My head hurts…"

Cal reached to move her hair away from the cut at her temple. "It's bad but I don't think it needs stitches. Ruined your shirt…"

Gillian looked down and could see that her shirt was torn open and most of her cleavage was exposed. Her black lace bra was showing and the edges of the shirt were covered in blood. She flushed with embarrassment as she quickly tried to close the shirt only to realize the buttons were missing and she had no way of keeping it closed.

Cal got to his feet and quickly started to unbutton his dress shirt. It was in his hand when she realized what he was doing and tried to stand but a wave of dizziness overtook her.

Cal reached out to steady her as he stood in front of her in his black t-shirt, blocking the view from the other man. "Slow down, Luv."

Gillian leaned her forehead against his chest as she waited for the world to stop spinning. She finally swayed back and took the shirt from him then struggled to put it on over her own.

"Just take yours off, Gill." Cal gently suggested.

She blushed as she looked at him then glanced over his shoulder to see that the other man had the decency to look to the side and afford her some privacy.

Gillian hesitated for a second then let her blouse fall to the ground as Cal held his shirt out so she could quickly slip her arms in. "Thanks, Cal."

"It's a little big, yeah?"

"A little…." Gillian showed him her hands hidden inside the length of the sleeves. "…but at least I'm covered."

"Here I was hoping if I ever saw you wearing my shirt it would've been after a night of fun…" he grinned, trying to lighten her embarrassment.

Knowing instantly what he was trying to do, she looked at him with amusement in her eyes and countered playfully. "As soon as we get out of this mess, why don't you to try and make that happen?"

Cal's jaw dropped open in shock as he helped her button the lower buttons on the shirt. He was relieved she had found her inner strength again and he stepped in to kiss her forehead. "Now at's a promise I'll be able to keep."

She touched his cheek then steeled herself and walked around his side. As she cuffed the sleeves of his shirt, she looked at the other man. "So what was your plan?"

Cal stepped up behind her and placed a hand on the small of her back while they waited for an answer.

The man turned around and faced her. "First off, I'd like to apologize for your blouse."

Gillian saw the sincerity in his eyes and nodded. "Thank you for turning away and giving me privacy…"

The two other gunmen walked into the room. One of them had a bowl filled with water and a few clean towels that Gillian knew had come from the break room. The other man had the first aid kit they kept in the women's bathroom. Both men set their items down on the table in front of the couch.

The shorter of the two men looked at Cal. "Will you help her?"

Cal was surprised by their concern for Gillian and was grateful that they had thought to bring supplies to take care of her. "Yeah, thank you."

"We never meant to get rough with you," the leader said when he caught Gillian's eye.

"Three gunmen break into her office late at night flashing semi automatics and you didn't mean to get rough with her?" Cal spat as he reached for Gillian's hand and led her over to the desk chair.

"We came to talk to you about the debt your husband owes our family."

"Ex husband," Cal clarified.

Gillian sat while Cal reached for antiseptic cleaner and a few swabs. He gently dabbed at the area as he tried to clean it.

Cal grimaced as he saw her eyes close and her breath hitch against the pain.

"Sorry, Luv."

Gillian ignored the pain and looked over at the leader. "He's right; Alec and I have been divorced for over a year. His debts are not my problem."

The leader sat down in a chair facing her. "Unfortunately, my father doesn't really care about your marital status. He knows you were the beneficiary on an insurance policy and he knows that you were sent that money."

Gillian frowned at the knowledge these men had regarding her personal life then slowly grew angry. "Does your father also know that Alec borrowed against that policy and that what I received barely covered his burial expenses?"

"Should have had him cremated it would have been cheaper…" The shorter man in back pointed out.

The leader frowned at the news as he shook his head angrily. "You also had a joint 401K plan."

"No, in the divorce settlement, I gave up my rights to his 401K and he gave up his rights to my half of the stock in this company."

"So where did his 401K money go?"

"I have no idea…" Gillian balked worriedly as she could see the anger in the three men was slowly starting to escalate again.

Frustrated, the leader walked to her shelves and picked up a heavy vase and threw it against the wall with such force it made a hole in the dry wall before it shattered on the floor.

"Hey!" Cal shouted after he had flinched and moved instinctively in front of Gillian to protect her.

The biggest man in back slowly walked forward and sneered at Gillian. "So how do you suggest we collect out debt?"

Gillian began to shake and her voice showed her fear. "I don't…"

"How much is it?" Cal interrupted her.

The big guy stopped and looked at him curiously then decided to take liberties with the real amount. "A hundred and twenty thousand."

"At's a lie." Cal shot him a look dripping with pure hatred as he sneered at him. "Now if one of you can tell me the truth and give me a few days maybe I can scrape up the money."

"Foster owes us seventy seven thousand…" the leader declared.

"Bloody hell," Cal muttered.

Gillian groaned and looked at him worriedly. "I don't have that kind of money!"

Cal took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly. "Is that really what he owes or have you blokes added on to that?"

The leader shook his head. "No, that's what he owes."

Cal nodded. "I'll bring it to dear old dad tomorrow night…"

"You'll hand it to us now or we'll take it out of your girlfriend's ass." The big man said.

Cal dropped Gillian's hand as he stepped in front of her again. "You try and I'll kill you first."

The leader stepped forward. "Tiny, shut the hell up! You and Mugs get out of here, I'll meet you downstairs." The two men left and the leader sighed as he shook his head. "You're not going to get anywhere near my dad…"

"I want assurances from the top that if I pay off this debt, it's over and done with, that you'll leave her alone…"

The leader shrugged "Look, it's not our fault these losers snort or shoot this crap and flush their whole lives down the drain. I'm just here to collect on the tab he ran up. I promise you if the money that's owed is paid in full we'll leave Dr. Foster here alone."

Cal frowned when he saw the guy was telling him the truth. "Where should I meet you?"

"Luciano's Tavern."

Cal sneered at the familiarity of the pub. "I'll be there at eight o'clock tomorrow night."

The leader nodded then got up to leave but turned around at the last second and stared at Cal, offering a final threat. "For her sake, I hope you show up."


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

Gillian was shaking and tears were streaming from her eyes when Cal turned around. He pulled her against his chest and held her while she cried.

"Its okay, Darling, no worries, yeah? I'll take care of all of this…"

Gillian cried harder into his chest. "How Cal? I don't have that kind of money and neither do you!"

"I've got it covered, Gillian, okay, please stop crying…"

At the tone in his voice, Gillian stiffened in his arms and leaned back. "How do you have that kind of money?"

"I just do."

He looked like he was hiding something and she leveled him with a glare. "Cal! What did you do?!"

Cal frowned at her anger and shook his head. "Nothing illegal!" Gillian folded her arms in front of her and looked at him expectantly. He realized he was going to have to tell her the truth. "Look, I've been working. I took on all those crappy cases that were sitting in a pile on your desk. Loker and Torres helped set them up and I hit the pavement running every day. Heidi helped with the collections and I think I'm pretty damned closed to having all the money you need."

Gillian was quiet as she looked down and pretended to study her fingernails while she fought back the tears that threatened to spill once again.

"Foster…" Cal sighed as his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Look, I know you're pissed because I crossed that blasted line and I'm sorry but damn it, Gillian, you're my…"

Cal stopped himself in time from telling her he loved her and the room grew silent as he shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited for her to speak to him.

"What?" she asked quietly.

Gillian hadn't looked up and Cal frowned as he glanced at her. "What?"

"I'm you're what?" Gillian asked as she looked into his eyes.

Cal stared at her for what seemed like an eternity. Several times he took a deep breath and seemed like he was going to reply then finally he threw his hands out to the sides with exasperation. "My best friend, Foster! You're the best friend I ever had and you're my business partner…"

"Oh," Gillian said sadly.

"Come here…" Cal grabbed her hand and dragged her along beside him. They walked quickly through the halls and into his office. Cal locked the door behind them then took her over to his safe. He opened it and started to drag out the bundles of money he had stashed in it.

Gillian gasped as she picked up a large pile of one hundred dollar bills secured together with a rubber band. "Cal…"

He said at the exact same time. "Like it or not, Luv, we're in this together and have been since the day you said you'd be my partner."

Gillian set down the money down and leaned against the side of the desk as she let the full implications of what he'd done sink in. "You knew this was going to happen didn't you?"

Cal nodded. "I had a pretty good idea it would and Reynolds believed it would happen as well so..."

"Here I thought you were keeping your distance to give me time to grieve over Alec. Instead, you've been working yourself to death to save up enough money to help me out because I was too naïve to believe anything bad would come out of this."

"Am I supposed to say something now?" Cal asked with confusion when silence fell between them.

Gillian shook her head slowly in wonder. "And all of this is why you're so exhausted?"

Cal grimaced and shrugged his shoulders. "Well…I was a little tired but I was never exhausted really…"

Gillian chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully as she looked at him. Cal frowned and grew worried when she squared her shoulders and came to stand in front of him. Because her shoes were still on the floor in her office, she was a few inches shorter than him and she had to look up to look into his eyes.

"I love you, Cal."

Cal's stomach fluttered but he refused to allow himself to believe that she meant it the way he hoped she would so he downplayed it and shrugged indifferently. "You don't have to say that, Foster, it's only money, it was a couple of weeks of hard work. I owe you that much."

Cal blinked in surprise when she leaned in and kissed him. He almost pulled away when she slid her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. When he felt his body start to respond, he leaned back and cupped her face in his hands and stared into her eyes.

Gillian knew he was reading her and didn't care. If this is what it took for him to see she truly loved him then she was more than willing to let him confirm his suspicions. She knew he would only see love reflected in her eyes and on her face.

"Gillian…" he asked with wonder.

"Have you seen enough?" she whispered as she reached up and cupped his cheek.

"Yeah," he nodded with a slight smile.

"Good, can we go back to kissing now?"

Cal's hands ran though her hair as he leaned down and kissed her again and Gillian's arms slid around his waist. He moaned as her hands slipped under his t-shirt and slid slowly up his back.

His senses returned and he jumped back like she had burned him. "I've dreamed of this moment way too many times to have our first time be on top of my desk."

"Yeah…" Gillian gasped in agreement then blushed and looked away.

Cal looked over at the open safe and sighed. "Luv, as much as I don't want to bring this up…we need to count this money and see exactly how much we have…"

Gillian's face fell as reality crashed down again but she knew he was right. "Okay."

She grabbed the first bundle and counted it out. She started making piles of thousands. Cal recounted her piles then banded together the bundles into stacks of five thousand.

Gillian sighed when they finished. "Fifty two thousand! You made fifty two thousand dollars in two weeks working crappy cases?! Cal, that's amazing!"

"What it is…" Cal lamented. "…is twenty five thousand dollars short of our goal!"

"Cal…"

"Wait…" he ran over and grabbed the stack of files from the edge of his desk. "Loker and Torres did the leg work on these cases but their opinions differed slightly. They said if I could look at their findings they could collect on these by tomorrow."

Gillian frowned as she glanced at the files and reached for them. "I'll do it, go home and get some rest."

Cal reached for the stacks of money then threw them back into the safe and locked it. "Darling, you know that's not going to happen," he smiled as he reached for her hand and led her to the lab. "I'll be right back," he said as he kissed her temple then went to the employee lunch room and made hot chocolate for her and hot tea for himself.

He walked in to find Gillian had started up the computers and was bringing up the footage from the first case. He handed her the mug then turned around and dragged another stool over so he could sit beside her.

"What's this?" he asked as he looked at the footage.

"Mmmmm….good hot chocolate…." Gillian moaned.

Cal grinned at her. "That's not what I meant but let me…" He leaned in to kiss her then tasted the chocolate on her lips. "It is good!"

Gillian sighed as she grinned into his mouth. "If we finish this, we can get home sooner…."

Cal grinned and wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "Oh, yeah? Is that a promise?"

"Yeah, Cal, it is," Gillian grew serious and nodded. "I'm done dancing back and forth over the line…"

Cal grew serious as well and leaned his forehead against hers. "You have no idea how happy that makes me."

"Yes, I do." Gillian sighed as she looked back at the screen. "Okay, one of them is for and one of them is against."

"Don't care…" Cal said automatically as he slipped into work mode. He moved in closer to the screen as he concentrated on the face of the woman being interviewed.

"There!" they said simultaneously as Gillian hit the stop button.

"She's lying," Cal stated. "Her left eye lid fluttered."

"Her voice pitched slightly." Gillian added as she went back a few seconds on the video and replayed it.

"You're right," Cal agreed.

"You are too, I saw the same thing."

"Who caught it?" Cal wondered as he looked over her shoulder at the file.

"They didn't mention this one…their dispute comes over what they saw at 4:38…"

Cal shrugged. "Go ahead…let's have a look."

Gillian forwarded close to the time and they watched it together.

Cal shrugged. "She's bloody well lying through her teeth. Who the hell missed this?"

"Loker…"

"Idiot!"

Gillian pointed at the screen and the display of cleavage the woman was purposefully showing "She's a beautiful woman…maybe the display of her…um…assets was distracting to him."

Cal leaned in to kiss her. "She can't hold a candle to you, Luv."

Gillian rolled her eyes and handed him the file she had jotted notes in. Cal put it on the table behind them while she pulled up the next video footage.

Over the course of the next hour and a half, the two worked diligently and made quick work of the stack.

It was almost one in the morning when they finished the last file. Gillian finally gave into the pain of the headache she had been ignoring all this time. She closed her eyes then held her head and rubbed at her temples.

"Gill…"

"I'm okay, it's just a headache."

"Bloody hell! I'm a bleeding idiot!" he said angrily. Gillian blinked in surprise as she looked at him. "Everything happened so quickly, Darling, I can't believe I forgot you were hurt."

"I'm fine Cal, it's just late and…"

"And you were knocked out…come on, let me get you home." Cal said as he started to shut down the computers.

Gillian made some notations in the last file then put it on the stack. She wrote a note to Loker telling him the files were completed and the results could be disclosed and final payments collected. She also informed him and she and Cal would be in late the next morning.

Cal looked at her expectantly then walked with her to her office so she could get her shoes and purse.

Cal grabbed for her keys and held them up to show her she'd forgotten them.

"I won't need them; I'm going home with you."

Cal shook his head. "You need to rest…you'll sleep better at home."

"I'll sleep better being held in your arms."

Cal looked at her as he debated what the right thing was to do. She shot him the look that told him she wasn't going to back down and he smiled warmly and took her hand. "I guess you're coming home with me, then."

Gillian knew he'd give in and they walked out together and got into his car. "I should stop by my place and pick up something to wear."

Cal kissed her hand. "You can sleep in my t-shirt again then tomorrow morning we'll run over to your place and you can change before we come here."

"Okay," Gillian said as she laid her head back on the seat and closed her eyes.

Cal drove through the silent streets. It was only a twenty minute drive but Gillian had fallen asleep. He glanced over at her and frowned when the vision of her lying on her couch bleeding and unconscious popped into his mind. He laid a hand on her knee and squeezed it lightly as he tried to remember that she was all right now and that after tomorrow, everything could go back to normal.

Gillian moved her hand to cover his. Cal felt how cold it was and he covered it with his and squeezed it lightly. He pulled into his driveway and patted her knee.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," He whispered as he got out and came around to her side of the car and opened the door.

Gillian blinked and got out then followed him inside. She went right to the spare bedroom and grabbed the t-shirt she wore last night then headed to the bathroom to change.

"Oh my God, Cal!"

Cal raced worriedly into the bathroom to see her looking into the mirror. "What is it?"

"I look like hell!"

Cal rolled his eyes as his heart stopped pounding frantically and he grinned and kissed her forehead. "You look beautiful."

"You could have told me I have dried blood in my hair and streaks of blood down the side of my ear!" she said as she pointed to the side of her head. "I need to take a shower."

Cal frowned and pointed towards Emily's room. "Unless you want to smell like a mountain meadow, you best use Em's bathroom, I think she has baby powder or peach cobbler something or other in her shower."

Gillian sighed. "Yeah, I'll use her shower until I can bring some of my own things here."

"This weekend…"

"What's this weekend?" Gillian wondered as she grabbed a towel and washcloth from the linen closet in the hallway.

"We'll move all your stuff here this weekend."

Gillian's brows rose in surprise as she turned around to face him. "You're asking me to move in with you?"

"No," Cal frowned as he stepped closer to her and took her hand in his. "I want you to marry me, Gill."

Gillian's mouth dropped open. "What?"

"I want you to think about being my wife…"

"Your wife?! I…don't know what to say…" she stammered.

"Oh…" Cal muttered regretfully as he took a step backwards. "I…I'm sorry."

"Wait! I don't need to think about it!" Gillian grabbed at his shirt and leaned in to kiss him. "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, I'll be your wife."

"Really?"

"Yes! Really!"

Cal scooped her up in his arms and held her tightly then leaned back and looked at her curiously. "Are you absolutely…"

"Cal! Stop asking…I'm sure…I love you!"

"I love you too, Gill."

They kissed and it quickly escalated when Gillian suddenly pulled away gasping for breath. "I'm showering first. You're not making love to me for the first time when I have dried blood in my hair!"

Cal grinned and patted her on her backside before he turned and headed to his own shower. Ten minutes later, he was lying in bed in a pair of under shorts when he heard her call out.

He shot to his feet and ran to Emily's room. She was sitting on the side of Emily's bed with a towel wrapped tightly around her. She was crying when he sat down next to him and put his arm around her. "What is it, Luv?"

"I don't know, I was combing out my hair, I wanted to dry it, but then I started to see those tiny dots and heard the ringing in my ears. It started getting fuzzy so I walked over here as quickly as I could."

Cal pulled her against his bare chest and held her for a few seconds. "Are you all right now?"

Gillian glanced up and swallowed as she looked around the room. "I feel kind of funny but I guess I'm all right."

Cal got up and grabbed another clean towel then gently towel dried her hair. He helped her slip his shirt over her head then turned away when she slipped out of her wet towel. "Let's get you straight into bed then," he said as he reached to pull back the covers on the guest bed.

"I don't want to sleep alone."

"My bed then?" he asked gently.

Gillian grinned weakly. "I don't want to cuddle up to a stuffed animal."

Cal slipped his arm around her again and led her to his bedroom. "Climb in."

Gillian crawled to the middle then lay curled up on her side. Cal turned off the lights then slid in next to her and covered them up with the blankets then spooned up behind her.

"I'm sorry, I ruined our night," she whispered.

Cal kissed her cheek then pulled her closer. "This is more than I ever dreamed possible, Darling, now go to sleep."

Eight hours later, Cal slipped quietly out of his bedroom then closed the door so Gillian could sleep longer.

He headed down to the kitchen and made a cup of tea then grabbed his phone and called in to work.

"Loker."

"Did you get our notes?"

Loker rolled his eyes as the abrupt voice on the other end of the line. "Yeah, Torres is lining up the clients today so we can give out the results."

"Great, Foster and I will be in after awhile to help. I'll need twenty five thousand more by eight o'clock tonight."

"Tonight? So they finally came for it?"

"Yeah." Cal muttered. "Last night they stopped by the office."

"Is everyone all right?"

"We will be."

"All right."

"Hey Eli? Thanks." Cal said as he hung up.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

Gillian woke an hour later and came down to find Cal sitting in the kitchen logged onto his computer. She slipped her arms around his waist.

"Hello, Darling." He whispered as he kissed her temple and put his arm around her.

She was still warm from being in bed as she snuggled up against him and sighed. "Morning…"

"Coffee?" Cal guessed as he got up. He had gotten everything ready earlier and only had to push the button to start it.

"Yeah, thanks." She said as she slid onto the seat he just vacated.

He placed the cream and sugar in front of her then waited for the pot to fill before he poured her a cup and set it down by her.

"Hungry?" Cal said as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Not really…"

Cal frowned as she held her hands cupped around the mug. "Are you feeling all right, Gill?"

She looked up and nodded. "Yeah, what are you working on?" she asked as she looked at the screen.

Cal sighed and reached over to close the lid. "Nothing, Loker and Torres are working on collecting the last of the money from the cases. I just looked up the address for the drop off.

"We're going there at eight o'clock right?"

Cal's brows rose in surprise before he gave her a level gaze. "No, _I'm_ going there at eight o'clock…alone…"

"What do you mean you're going alone?!"

"I mean…you're not going."

"Of course, I'm going…"

"No you're not!"

"It's my debt!" Gillian's eyes flashed angrily.

"No, it's Alec's debt!" Cal countered.

"That I'm being forced to pay! I'm going to be the one who pays it to them."

"It's my money!"

Gillian's face fell at the reminder and she lowered her eyes. Cal took a deep breath and closed his eyes then counted to ten. When he opened them he looked at her beseechingly. "Gillian, for once in your life, will you trust me and let me handle this…alone?"

Gillian cocked her head to the side. "This has nothing to do with trusting you and you know it!"

"Bloody hell!" Cal spat frustratingly as he rubbed his hand over his face then put both hands on the table in front of him. "You're not going, Foster and that's final!"

"Fine," Gillian said quietly.

"What?"

"You handle it."

"Really?" Cal asked warily.

"Yep…I'm going to go get ready for work then you can run me by my place so I can put on something other than this…" she looked down at the front of her shirt. "… _I'd rather be gambling t shirt_."

Cal's eyes narrowed as he watched her walk upstairs. _"That was too easy,"_ he thought as he rinsed out his mug and placed it in the sink then ran upstairs to get dressed as well.

Ten minutes later, they met again in the kitchen.

"Gill, you know why you can't go with me right?"

Gillian shot him a look of pure disgust then started to walk to the garage. "Because I'm a woman and it's too dangerous for me to be around these big bad scary men."

She had started to open the door when Cal reached over her shoulder and pushed it closed then gently turned her around and took her hands in his.

"At's not fair and you know it."

"It's not fair that you're always trying to keep me at arm's length."

"If something goes wrong I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Oh and you can't get hurt?!"

"I can take care of myself but if I have to worry about someone else then I bloody well can't focus on my own safety, can I?"

Gillian's eyes lowered as she looked away guiltily. "I'm sorry."

Cal softened. "Don't be sorry; let me take care of this for you, for us."

Gillian looked up at him and nodded slowly. "Okay, thank you."

Cal leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Let's get to work, yeah?"

Gillian turned around and led the way.


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

Seven hours later, Gillian and Torres were counting more of the money that had trickled in.

Torres frowned and then broke out into a smile. "I'm coming up with an extra five thousand…"

Gillian was recounting her stacks and nodded but kept going. She picked up the last bundle and looked at Torres. "I'm done…so this whole stack is what's left, and this totals five thousand?"

Torres nodded. "If I counted right it does…"

Gillian continued counting while Torres carefully placed the money for Alec's debt into a cardboard box.

Gillian nodded in agreement as she waved the money. "Yeah, this is extra."

"Lightman's out collecting the last of it, I'll give him a call and let him know," Torres said as she walked out and headed towards the lab.

Gillian put the extra money in the safe then looked at the box Torres had packed the money in. An idea popped instantly into her head and she frowned. She sat down on Cal's chair and stared at the box as she carefully considered her options. As she thought about the whole scenario, she remembered Alec's face when she went to identify his body and she grew increasingly angry again. Impulsively, she reached for the box and took it to her office, then crammed it into a large bag and started for the front door.

"I'll be back in a couple minutes, Heidi, I'm just going to out to get an orange slushy."

Torres was making coffee and overheard the comment and quickly dismissed it while Heidi nodded distractedly as she answered the phone.

Twenty minutes later, Cal walked into the lab. "Hey, where's Foster?"

Torres and Loker looked up from the video they were reviewing. Loker shrugged as Torres frowned distractedly. "Her office probably?"

"No…that's why I came in here."

"Then I have no idea."

Cal frowned. "When was the last time you saw her?"

Loker looked up again. "Um…this morning, when I was getting coffee."

Cal looked at Torres expectantly.

"Um...right before I called you to tell you we had enough money. She left to go get an orange slushy."

"In February?" Cal questioned as Torres' face fell in realization. "Bloody hell!" Cal exclaimed as he raced to his office hoping he was wrong. He quickly opened his safe and saw the small stack of money inside then turned to face Torres who had come in behind him. "Please tell me you have the rest of the money?"

"No, Foster was putting it away when I said I was going to call you."

Cal raced from the room and out to his car then barreled across town as he called Ben for back up.

Meanwhile, Gillian had walked into Luciano's Tavern. Several heads turned to watch her progress as she wove her way to the back towards the man who was clearly the most important person in the bar.

From their stations against the wall, his bodyguards pushed off and stepped closer to his side.

The man called Tiny from the day before sneered as he came over from the bar. "I wouldn't get any closer if I were you."

"Why? Do your _friends_ beat up women as well?" she said bravely as she looked around the room.

The older man in back laughed aloud at her bravery as he motioned to a chair. "Dr. Foster, please come join me."

Gillian blinked in surprise as she stepped over and sat down. "You know who I am?"

"Of course," he looked over at a bodyguard. "Get Dr. Foster a glass of scotch on the rocks."

Gillian eyed him warily as she waited. She wondered how he knew so much about her. The bodyguard handed her a drink and she took a sip then blinked in surprise at the smoothness. She knew instantly that it was one of the more expensive brands and nodded her thanks to her host.

"You know who I am?" she asked as she looked at him pointedly and waved the glass holding her drink. "And what I drink."

The man frowned. "I didn't…it was until after your husband's unfortunate death that my organization first learned about you."

"So then you must have discovered that Alec was in fact my _ex_ husband?"

"I learned that Alec had family."

"Family?" Gillian chuckled derisively. "Or people that you could bully to extract payment from?" The man's eyes darkened with anger but Gillian was unable to see it and continued her rant. "Did you also discover that Alec only had elderly parents who were in no position to pay off this kind of debt? What were your plans for them? Beat up the old woman sitting with her walker that she needs to use because of her recent hip replacement or her loving husband who is still recovering from open heart surgery six months ago?! Maybe it was his sister with four little kids that barely has enough money to feed them because her husband is in the service in Iraq?"

"Alec Foster ran up quite a debt to my organization. I needed that debt paid off." The man said flatly.

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you shouldn't allow your customers to get so far in debt? Don't you have any responsibility in that?"

"It's not my fault he was an addict!"

"It's your garbage that's for sale out on the streets!" Gillian snapped back.

"And your husband who wanted that garbage! Your husband who wanted so badly to escape his miserable life, he sold his soul to the devil!"

"And you're the devil!" Gillian gasped as she slammed her hand on the table, clearly exasperated.

"Your husband was a loser!" Tiny spat out as he stepped forward.

"He was weak!" Gillian countered. "He needed help!"

The leader of the group from the day before walked into the bar and quickly over to where they were sitting. "Dr. Foster?" He said in surprise.

The older man looked at his son. "Vince, son, you said Dr. Lightman was coming here today to pay off Foster's debt instead I find I'm here _entertaining_ Alec's lovely widow."

Vince heard the anger in his father's voice and swallowed hard. "Dad, Lightman assured me he was coming."

Gillian had also heard the anger in the man's voice and the worry in his son's face and she looked over at him. "Vince is right, Dr. Lightman was supposed to come here but I wanted to come and see my husband's murderer face to face."

"I never laid a hand on your husband," the man said flatly.

"No," Gillian said as she nodded towards Tiny. "Instead you ordered one of your thugs to do it."

Tiny quickly grabbed Gillian's arm as she gasped in fear. "Just give me the order to take care of this one too, boss! At least this time, I'll enjoy it!"

Gillian's arm was yanked hard when Tiny suddenly flew back against the wall. As blood poured from his broken nose, he looked with surprise at the figure standing behind her.

Cal stood there holding his own hand as he looked at Tiny menacingly. "I told you not to lay a hand on her!"

"Jimmy!" the older man suddenly sang out surprisingly as he stood to greet the man that had just taken out his biggest bodyguard.

Cal frowned as he flexed his hand. It was hurting from the punch he just gave but he extended it anyway. "Sal."

"What are you doing here?!" Sal asked as he nodded towards another bodyguard "Bring Jimmy here a scotch!"

The bodyguard quickly came back with a glass. "Good to see you Jimmy," he greeted.

"Hey, John," Cal smiled weakly at the man. "How's your game coming along?"

"Beat Tiny last week in Texas Hold Em."

"Good for you!" Cal grinned.

" _You're_ Jimmy the Mouth?" Vince took a seat next to Cal who nodded at the question in Vince's eyes.

"Yeah…," Cal began as he looked at Sal. "My real name is Cal Lightman. Dr. Foster here is my partner."

Sal laughed aloud as he shook his head in disbelief. "Wow, it's a damn, small world."

Vince chuckled as he shook his head. "Who would have thought that Cal Lightman was Jimmy the Mouth?!"

Sal grew serious as he moved closer to talk to Cal. "I'm sorry about this whole nasty affair. If I had known Dr. Foster was acquainted with you, I would have come to you and handled this differently."

Cal nodded. "I appreciate that."

Sal sat back in his seat and held his hands close to his chest. "That said; you know I can't let it get out that an addict owed me and I couldn't collect on that debt."

"I know," Cal grimaced.

"So you understand my position?"

"Yeah, Sal, I get it."

"No hard feelings?"

Gillian frowned as she looked at Cal angrily. "Did either of you notice that I'm still sitting here?"

Cal shot her a warning look as Sal blinked in surprise. "She's a feisty one, Jimmy, how do you control her?"

Cal laughed as he took Gillian's hand and squeezed it, hoping she was going to read him correctly. "I can't…At's why I'm gonna marry her instead and see if that'll tame her up a bit."

Sal laughed aloud. "Good luck with that! It never worked for my Maria!"

Vince slapped him on the back as well. "Congrats! You're a lucky man, she's a looker!"

Cal wagged his eyebrows. "You have no idea how lucky I am!"

At Cal's warning look, Gillian sat quietly and took a moment to think about what just happened. She realized that Sal was growing steadily angry with her and she was getting in too deep but she wasn't able to stop the angry words from coming out. She admitted that once again, Cal had stepped in and diffused the situation. She glanced at Tiny who just managed to stop the blood from flowing from his broken nose then looked down to see Cal's hand was red and swollen from where he had punched Tiny. She blinked in surprise when she heard Cal mention that they were going to get married. She could tell he was still worried. He was probably hoping that the news she actually belonged to him would be enough for these men to allow her to walk away without being hurt. Understanding the huge mistake she had made, she leaned back in her chair and opened her bag to take out the box of money. "Cal, can we wrap this up? I'm really tired," she whispered.

At the appearance of the cardboard box, Sal's bodyguards instantly stepped forward and were all business once again.

Cal looked at Gillian and realized she had understood the importance of what was happening. He nodded at her and took the box from her lap and handed it to the closest bodyguard. "Will you check this for me, John?"

John waited until Sal nodded his approval and then the other three bodyguards stood by as he opened the box. John nodded and Vince knew the box contained the money.

"Count it," Sal said instantly.

Vince stood and he and John counted through the stacks.

"It's all here, Dad."

Sal looked apologetically back at Cal. "Business…"

Cal shrugged his acquiescence. "It's over with, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Its okay if I take the little woman with me then?" Cal grinned as he stood.

"Please," Sal nodded as he leaned forward conspiratorially. "She kind of scares me…"

"Really?" Cal laughed aloud and extended his hand as he leaned forward. "Tell you the truth; she petrifies the hell out of me!"

Gillian stood by Cal's side and slipped her arm through his.

Sal stood and reached his hand out to Gillian. "Dr. Foster, I know you don't believe me but I want you to know that I really am sorry."

Gillian heard the tone in his voice and read his face and realized the man really was sorry. Deep down, she knew that the fault of all of this truly lay with Alec. She took a deep breath and shook Sal's hand. "Thank you."

Cal placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her out. As they made their way through the tables, he reached for her hand to lead her from the bar. Once they were outside, he dropped her hand and looked around. "Where are you parked?" he asked quietly.

"I took a cab," Gillian admitted softly as she realized he was barely holding onto his anger.

Cal led her to his car and made sure she was seated before he walked around and got in. They drove in silence back to the Lightman Group.

Gillian's mind raced with ways to apologize to him. Their positions were normally reversed and Cal was usually the one who needed to apologize to her. Now, Gillian finally understood how he felt when everything she could think of to say to him seemed inadequate.

"Cal?"

"Not now, Foster…"

He had distanced himself from her once again. They parked and once they were inside, Cal walked silently to his office. Gillian sighed and walked into the lab.

Torres and Loker looked up expectantly.

"Hi," Gillian smiled weakly.

"How'd it go?" Loker wondered.

"It's over with."

"Good," Torres smiled.

"Yeah, I just wanted to come in here and thank both of you. None of this could have happened without your help."

"I don't know about that," Torres started. "Lightman worked like eighteen… nineteen hours a day to see this through…"

Loker laughed. "Yeah, we all know how much he hates these kinds of cases. He must have been miserable this whole time but he was obsessed with getting enough money to bail Alec out."

Torres had watched the play of emotions across Gillian's face and realized Loker said too much. She tapped him on the arm. "Hey, it's getting late and we're heading out unless you need us for something else…"

Gillian shook her head. "No, thanks again, I'll see you Monday…enjoy your weekend."


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

Gillian walked to her office and turned on her computer. For over an hour she stared at the screen and thought about the afternoon and what a dangerous position she had put herself in. Knowing she needed to face Cal, she turned off her computer and headed to his office.

She knocked lightly then walked inside to see him. "Hi."

Cal face was devoid of emotion when he stood and held out a bank envelope. "It's the rest of the money, a deposit slip is attached and ready to go to the bank, it's another eighteen thousand, should go a long way towards getting us in the black again."

"Cal…" she said as she took the envelope and set it down on the edge of the desk.

"I think Loker and Torres have a few more cases, I'll keep at it until I get a little cushion built up again…"

"Cal…"

"I also signed a contract with…"

"Cal…" Gillian walked around his desk and stepped in front of him then leaned in to kiss him. As she backed away, she apologized. "I'm sorry…"

"I know," Cal frowned.

She smiled weakly as she backed up and leaned against the edge of his desk. "I'm not usually on this side of the apology so I'm not really sure how to do this…"

"Apology accepted," Cal shrugged indifferently as he walked away from her. "Isn't that what you always say to me?" She frowned uncertainly as he continued. "Thing is…I never realized how hard it is to sit and hear it when you know that in the long run it really doesn't matter."

"Don't say that!" she whispered as a feeling of dread washed over her. She wondered if he would ever be able to forgive her.

"What the truth? Because the bottom line is that you didn't trust me enough to take care of all of this…" he spat angrily.

"Of course I did!"

"Then why did you go there, Gillian?!" Cal quieted as he looked down and shook his head with confusion.

"I don't know, it's probably one of the dumbest things I've ever done. I was just so angry about the whole thing!"

"I know."

"They killed Alec! One man decided that Alec's life was only worth seventy seven thousand dollars. They make me sick but I should have listened to you."

"You should have."

"If it wasn't for Jimmy the Mouth showing up, I probably would've been in a little more trouble today."

"No…if it wasn't for Jimmy the Mouth, you wouldn't be here at all..." Cal pointed out angrily.

"Probably not…" she admitted quietly.

"No, don't do that! Don't downplay it!" Cal sighed. "Damn it! I've never been so frightened in my life! When I found my safe empty and you gone, I knew exactly what you'd done and my heart stopped. You have no idea how dangerous these guys are…then when I walk in and Tiny had your arm in his hand, you know he only needed a few more seconds to break it… "

"I know! I don't know what I was thinking! I guess I just felt like I should say something to defend Alec."

"He doesn't deserve it!" Cal grumbled angrily as he turned away from her to hide his disgust and anger.

Gillian sighed. "You're right, Alec had it all and he threw it away for a quick high. I realized today that he didn't deserve my loyalty…he screwed up and you paid the price."

Cal remained silent as he stared out the window.

"Cal…" she whispered.

Minutes passed by in silence and when he didn't turn around Gillian grew worried that the damage done was irreparable. Tears sprang to her eyes, as she walked over to him. His body stiffened when she put her hands on his shoulders.

"Cal, please tell me we're okay?" she begged.

Cal turned around, surprised that she actually thought he wouldn't forgive her. His anger fled when he saw the tears pooled in her eyes. "Hey, none of that…" He gently took her in his arms. "We're okay, Darling."

"You'll forgive me?"

"Nothing to forgive, Luv."

Gillian sniffled as she laid her head against his chest. "I never knew how comforting it is when you realize you've been given another chance."

Cal smiled weakly as he leaned back and kissed her forehead and swiped at the tears that had fallen down her cheeks. "At's us, right…you and me…at's how it works…give and take"

"Right now I want to give you something," Gillian looked up and kissed him. "Will you take me home?"

Cal looked into her eyes. Gillian could see his desire but she saw sadness there as well and she frowned in confusion. "You have no idea how much I want what you're offering but I need something even more from you before we take that next step..."

Gillian blinked nervously at the serious look in his eyes. "What is it, Cal?"

"I need to know you actually trust me…" he said quietly.

"I trust you!"

"No you don't, not deep down where it really matters…"

Gillian turned and walked over to the couch and sat down. She folded her hands on her lap and stared at them as she quietly began. "You already know that Alec and I dated through college. It was during that time that he told me he first tried drugs in high school, the regular stuff beginners take, pot…speed…the mild stuff. In college, the studying got to him and he was in pretty bad shape when he finally came to me and admitted he was doing cocaine." She chuckled as she shook her head derisively. "I was such a good little girl and such a good little student, I had no idea the man I was living with was a coke addict! I found out that Alec had been using all of his student loan money on drugs. I went to one of my psyche professors and we got Alec help. He cleaned up his act, buckled down and straightened out his life. When we graduated it seemed only natural that we get married. Three years later, Alec was struggling again. I had my job at the Pentagon but he wasn't climbing the proverbial corporate ladder as quickly as he would have liked. It seemed like the harder he worked the slower he advanced. By then, I was established here, a partner in my own firm and he started worrying endlessly about his own success. Somehow I missed all the signs and decided we needed to bring kids into our family." Cal had come to sit down beside her as she continued. "We failed…month after month passed by and I failed to conceive, we felt that disappointment over and over and over, and finally I couldn't do it anymore. I signed the papers to start looking for a baby to adopt. Sophie came along and we were happy…or rather, I was happy…when I took that month off of work; I sat for hours in a rocking chair and just stared at her face. I've never loved anyone so unconditionally before and…then we lost her." Her voice caught in her throat and Cal automatically turned and put his arm around her. Gillian set her hand on top of his knee and leaned against his chest. "Instead of turning to one another to get through, Alec turned to drugs and it was the beginning of the end. Living with him was like living with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. At first I tried to help but he told me he'd already gone back into the program and I thought he'd done what he needed to get back in recovery. I saw him out with his sponsor and believed she was helping him through it. I had no idea she had slipped off the wagon herself and had been using for months as well. Then I found out they were having an affair and now here I sit." She sniffled hard and sighed as she shrugged her shoulders as she took a deep breath. "Alec escaped all that pain he caused but you know how I dealt with it?" Cal shook his head as she touched his cheek. "I leaned on you."

He blinked in confusion as he leaned back to look at her. "Gill, I…"

"I know you didn't know it…" She smiled as she interrupted him. "But you were the one person I could count on to be the same every single day..."

Cal smiled weakly. "And you think that's a good thing?"

"For the most part," she chuckled as she put her head on his chest again. "When I confided to my mother and told her about my problems with Alec, she told me I knew what I was getting myself in for when I married him! I just wanted to grieve the loss of my marriage and my daughter and the only person who was there for me to do that with was you..."

Cal thought back to how upset she was when she first lost Sophie. He remembered picking her up as she lay on her floor in her office sobbing hysterically. He brought her to the couch where they sat together for over six hours while she alternated between crying on him and sleeping on him.

"When I divorced Alec, everyone else handled me with kid gloves but you knew I was happy to finally be free of all the garbage that he was putting me through. You knew I was relieved."

"I could see it on your face, Luv. That and I had an inside advantage because you tell me everything."

"And do you know why I tell you everything, Cal?"

"Because we're best friends?"

"No! Well…yes…but its more than just that, Cal. It's because I trust you. You never sit in judgment of me, you never condemn me for my choices, you never say a harsh word to me, when I need you and I mean truly need you…you're always there for me, quietly offering your support."

"You do the same for me, Darling."

"I know," she said as she leaned her head back to look at him. "I do it because I love you."

"I love you too, Gill."

Cal cupped her face and kissed her lightly. Gillian slid her arm around his neck as she deepened the kiss. It seemed like only seconds when she pulled back and gasped. She was flat on her back on the couch and Cal was lying down the length of her side. She could feel the evidence of his arousal against the side of her leg and his hand was gently brushing over her breast.

"Cal?!"

"Mmmmm?" he asked as he nuzzled his way down her neck.

"I kind of dreamed our first time would be in your bed…" she hinted.

Cal stopped suckling her shoulder and moved his hand down to her waist. "Oh, yeah? How long have you had that dream?"

Gillian rolled her eyes and refused to feed his ego. "At least a few minutes now."

"Ouch!" Cal grinned as he shot to his feet and held his hand out to help her up.

She got up saucily and started to walk to her office to get her shoes and purse. "Maybe it's been a few weeks...or months…" she said as her voice slowly dimmed the farther away she got.

Cal grabbed his coat and keys and ran after her. "Oh yeah, how many months have you been dreaming about us?"

Gillian giggled as she slipped on her coat. "A few…"

Cal grabbed her hand and kissed it as he stepped forward. "A few…like two or three?" Gillian walked around him and started for the door as he followed behind. "So not two or three…" Cal asked as he slid into the car and started to drive. "Are we talking like four or five?"

"Just drive, Cal!" Gillian smiled.

Cal made a face then concentrated on the road. As they pulled into his driveway, she reached over and touched his thigh. "Eighteen!" she commented coyly as she got out and walked towards his house.

"Eighteen?" Cal exclaimed as he walked up and opened his door with his key. "Bloody hell, Foster! We could have been going at it for eighteen months now!"

Gillian blinked in surprise as Cal pushed her against the wall and started frantically kissing her. She met his eagerness with her own. He came to his senses first and started to pull her up the steps towards his bedroom. As they walked through the bedroom door, they each started yanking their clothes off. Gillian turned at the bed to find Cal standing naked in front of her. She blushed as she looked into his eyes then reached between her breasts to undo the front clasp of her bra.

Cal swallowed hard then stepped forward to slide the straps over her shoulders. She moved her arms so it could slip to the floor, while he hooked his fingers in the sides of her thong to gently pull it down her legs.

His hands slid up her sides as they moved back onto the bed. Cal started to move off to her side when Gillian grabbed the sides of his hips.

"Don't make me wait another minute!"

"Are you…"

Gillian cut him off as she kissed him and pulled her legs around his waist.

Seconds later, Cal was inside of her. He moaned as he began to move. "You feel bloody fantastic."

Gillian's muscles contracted around him. "You have no idea how good this feels," she gasped simultaneously.

Cal grinned as he hugged her closer and started to drive into her. Their first time was quick; the second time their movements were less frantic but the third time was slow. They spent their time learning about each other and connected on a new level of intimacy before they finally fell asleep with exhaustion.

The End


End file.
